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Fun Oregon Destinations

Frankster13

Active Member
Looking to fly up from SF Bay Area in my RV-14A to the Portland area with my girlfriend. We are looking for fine food, wine tasting and fun things to do. I am also interested on the eastern/inland area as well as destinations along the Columbia. What are the best places to fly into? Fly Fishing, Wine, Fine food are my favorites.
 
You left off the obvious - a factory tour of Vans! Except, they may still be closed to the general public due to Covid. Keep it on your list, for when things get back to normal.
 
How many days do you have?

Central, OR- Bend/Sunriver. Sunriver (S21) is a fantastic area, book a room at the lodge or rent a house. Fishing, rafting, all kinds of stuff. Bend is 10ish miles north (KBDN)- a little east of town but quick uber ride and Bend is awesome. Lots of great things to do, beer, cool vibe in Bend.

Fly north 20-30 min to either the Dalles (KDLS) or Hood River (4S2) and wine tasting/wind surfing, you name it + beautiful views, hikes, Windsurfing, etc.

Fly West from there (Vans at Aurora of course) or land at McMinnville (KMMV) and there are many other vineyards and B&B's not far away at al.

Head west some more and enjoy the Oregon coast- lots of great options on the coast to have a great time.
 
If you want to head into eastern OR John Day (Grant Co. airport) is a very small town but picturesque. Reserve an airport crew car (town is walkable but very uphill on the return trip). Decent but affordable restaurants, brew pubs, etc. The John Day river does have fishing but I do not know the current status-much of eastern OR is in severe drought.
 
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Side Door Cafe at S45

The Side Door Cafe at Gleneden Beach is a short walk from Siletz Bay airport. S45.

GREAT food, good service. Reservations recommended.
https://www.sidedoorcafe.com/

We always enjoy breakfast or lunch at Starduster Cafe on the Independence airport. 7S5.

Regards,
 
Waaam

+1 for WAAAM. a friend and I hit 8 airplane museum on a nortwest trip and WAAAM was the best of the bunch.
 
+1 for Sun River. Land at the airport, grab a free bike from behind the FBO, ride less than 1/2 mile to the marina, rent a kayak and float 6 miles down the incredible Deschutes River, take the shuttle back to the marina and have a nice dinner at the restaurant next door, and even have time left over for riding around the dozens of miles of paved bike trails. A perfect day trip if you don't want to RON.

AND if you want to come to the beach PM me! I live close to Seaside Municipal (56S) and hangar my plane there. And we also have courtesy bikes!
 
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Good Restaurants

+1 for all the choices listed so far. Here's a couple of our favorite spots in those areas:

In Sunriver, stay at the lodge (https://www.sunriverresort.com/) if it's just the two of you - it is a fantastic getaway. Eat at South Bend Bistro (https://www.southbendbistro.com/) or Cafe Sintra (http://cafesintrasunriver.com/).

At Aurora, tour Vans Aircraft, then grab a car for the very short drive into Aurora and eat at the Filberts Farm House Kitchen (https://www.filbertsfarmhousekitchen.com/).

In Bend, you can't go wrong with just about any local spot - too many good choices to list. Downtown Bend and the Old Mill District are some of our favorite spots in town. Rent an ebike and ride around town, or rent a mountain bike at Pine Mountain Sports (https://pinemountainsports.com/) and catch a shuttle to Phil's Trail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua2UUKxA8NQ&t=5s) and ride it back to the bike shop. Cog Wild runs great tours too (https://www.cogwild.com/).

In Hood River, check out WAAM, then head down to Waterfront Park. We bring our dog, hang out watching the windsurfers and kiteboarders, and then grab a late lunch at Solstice Wood Fired Cafe (http://solsticewoodfirecafe.com/).

At the Oregon Coast, stay at The Whale Cove Inn (https://www.whalecoveinn.com/) or Salishan (https://www.salishan.com/), hit the beach or the golf course, and eat at the Side Door Cafe (https://www.sidedoorcafe.com/) or Tidal Raves (https://www.tidalraves.com/). Check out The Devil's Punchbowl at low tide on a sunny morning for an amazing beach experience unlike nothing else (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xsg3WUPYyQ).

In Newberg/McMinneville area, stay at The Allison (https://www.theallison.com/) and check out many of the local wineries, and visit the Spruce Goose Museum.

Definitly fly over Crater Lake if you don't have time to stop. If you do, spend a night at the lodge (https://www.nationalparkreservation...3akznQ6GyC91PXZfDzQcWVoOi5G36ZbQaAsi3EALw_wcB), and take the boat tour of the lake (https://www.nps.gov/crla/planyourvisit/boat-and-trolley-tours.htm) if you can - both are bucket list items.

Have fun!



Josh P.
 
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